Fan Art: Final Fantasy XIV Shadowbringers - Viera Gunbreaker

Drawn By: WrittenDusk

A fan art to celebrate the release of the "Shadowbringers" expansion for Final Fantasy XIV. 

I planned for this to be posted before the official release of the expansion, on July 2nd, but things didn't really go as planned. My motivation to finish this drawing deflated a bit as a result, so progress slowed down, but it's done now. 

Although there are things I'm not as happy with, I think the overall idea and execution stands on it's own. I was worried I wouldn't be able to make the oriental cross cowboy style work, but it turned out more natural than expected. I think I can lean in even more on both aspects next time.

But most importantly there is someone I have to thank for this drawing. Sadly I don't remember who it was. I really should have written it down, or saved it somewhere. I tried to find the specific post again, but it's not as easy as I thought it'd be. Regardless, thanks that post on reddit I was not only given 1000+ views on this blog, but it also made me realize that my Viera Gunblader* fan art became a prediction of sorts; I laughed in disbelief quite hard. I wouldn't have done another FFXIV fan art without this post. If some how the person who posted that post sees this: 

Thanks!

This was initially meant to be a two part project; the character design part, this one, and the more composition one. But because things came up, and the progression was slow, it felt like the right choice to end it at this and just move on.

Honestly I wasn't too bothered by the imperfections like usual, since I learned to accept them a lot more, but I would have been even more okay with them had I drawn the other drawing as well. Things like the head tilt being less than ideal, and some of the volumes of the character not being as well defined. Some of these are more a result of the pose and perspective I chose, while some are still skill based. But because there are still other things I plan to do, moving on is more important at the moment. 

Technically since I've completed the character design it would make it much easier to revisit this character. So maybe that would be a good idea; I'll try to keep it at the back of my head, haha.

But all in all I still feel grateful for that moment when I saw the view count jump. Just remembering it now makes me feel motivated; and slightly giddy. Maybe some day I could have that happen regularly, and REACH NEW HEIGHTS!

Either way, hope you enjoyed this drawing as well!